Sunday, December 17, 2017

Russian Diplomacy Has Limits In Syria

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UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura gives a press conference closing a round of Intra Syria peace talks at the European headquarters of the United Nations offices in Geneva, on December 14, AFP PHOTO / Fabrice COFFRINI

Reuters/Haaretz: As Russia Redraws the Map in Syria, Putin and Iran Are Left With One Major Disagreement

Russian diplomacy in Syria is not seen as likely to yield a peace deal, while Putin and Iranian leaders differ on how best to deal with Syria's armed Kurds

With the map of Syria's conflict decisively redrawn in President Bashar al-Assad's favor, his Russian allies, Iran included, want to convert military gains into a settlement that stabilises the shattered nation and secures their interests in the region - a prospect the Israeli government strongly objects to.

A year after the opposition's defeat in Aleppo, government forces backed by Russia and Iran have recovered large swathes of territory as Islamic State's "caliphate" collapses.

As UN-backed talks in Geneva fail to make any progress, Russia is preparing to launch its own political process in 2018. President Vladimir Putin declared mission accomplished for the military on a visit to Russia's Syrian air base this week, and said conditions were ripe for a political solution.

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WNU Editor: Russia may have played a major role in the military conflict in Syria, but its influence on the political process does have limits .... Russia’s military victory masks diplomatic impotence in Syria (Julien Barnes-Dace, European Council On Foreign Affairs)

1 comment:

fred said...

Russia, backing Iran, will have more influence that we are led to believe. Assad remains in power because of those two nations, and they will not let him forget that. Where would he go, be, without them?